The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said on Tuesday that there was no new evidence that would require changes to the region's current recommendations for the use of paracetamol, known as Tylenol in the United States, during pregnancy.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday linked autism to childhood vaccine use and the taking of popular pain medication Tylenol by women when pregnant, elevating claims not backed by scientific evidence to the forefront of U.S. health policy.
"Available evidence has found no link between the use of paracetamol during pregnancy and autism," the EMA said in a statement to Reuters, adding paracetamol could be used during pregnancy when needed though at the lowest effective dose and frequency.
A World Health Organization spokesperson also said on Tuesday that evidence of a link between the use of paracetemol during pregnancy and autism remained inconsistent and that the value of life-saving vaccines should not be questioned.
"The evidence remains inconsistent," WHO spokesperson Tarik Jašarević told a Geneva press briefing when asked about a possible link between paracetemol use in pregnancy and autism.
"We know that vaccines do not cause autism. Vaccines, as I said, save countless lives. So this is something that science has proven, and these things should not be really questioned," he added.
